With a 10-pound weight advantage, Joshua was able to fight with the merciless destruction of a wrecking ball.

His fine balance and appreciation of distance allowed him to find range with lead jabs in the first round and, by the third, he unleashed solid three-punch combinations.

Klitschko had his moments. After all, the Ukrainian is a wily pro who mastered his unique style long ago. His footwork was extraordinary for a 41-year-old man and he demonstrated a technical ability that few can match.

But this was a story of Joshua's remarkable strength, of his exciting brutality, and of his punching power. Power so awesome it saw Klitschko crumble to the canvas in a dramatic fifth round thanks to an AJ onslaught.

Klitschko was stunned and wobbled around the ring even after climbing to his feet. But the veteran recuperated quickly to daze Joshua with precise left hooks, crunching right hands, and chin-cracking uppercuts.

Was there life in the old dog yet?

In the sixth round, like a rabid hound out of hell, Klitschko bit Joshua bad. It was a shot that could be heard as loudly at ringside as it could at home and Joshua was down.

Klitschko had Joshua in trouble in the sixth round. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images Yes, Klitschko fired a bow and arrow right hand into Joshua's cheekbone and the home fighter dropped to the floor in front of his own fans. You could almost feel the silence. The right hand was classic Klitschko.

But was it all over? No! Joshua made the count. He was down, but not out. Joshua rose to his feet and survived the round.

The rest of the fight was a high-octane chess match. Klitschko channelled the greats of the game who fought well into their forties as he showed an athleticism that was every match for the younger man.

But this younger man had something Klitschko couldn't match. Joshua dug deep and summoned that concussive power once again as he toppled the ring legend a second and a third time with unanswerable flurries of punches in the 11th round.

It was all over.

"I'm not perfect, but I'm trying," Joshua announced in the middle of the ring after having his arm raised as the clear winner.

"I give a shout out to my trainer [Robert McCracken], a shout out to the 90,000 people here in the arena, and, lastly, as boxing states you have to leave your ego at the door and respect your opponent, I give a shout out to Wladimir Klitschko.

"Wladimir is a role model and I've got nothing but love for anybody who steps in the ring."